God's Provision For an Imperfect Mom

So Much Fun To Mention

This morning I heard laughter and squealing ringing through the house. What a pleasant sound. But before I get to that, let me back up and get you caught up on some fun events over the past two weeks.

Last week we ended our two weeks of swim lessons. My husband and I are intent on giving our kids the best chance at loving to explore life. That includes loving water. So we decided to sign the boys up for swim lessons this summer. They were in the Aquatots/Aquababies class, which ranges from 6mo-3yrs. Dad had to participate with us because one adult is required to be with each child. Oh what fun we had with daddy! They both started off being somewhat timid. I don’t blame them. We were in an olympic size pool and how intimidating if your only like 2 1/2 feet tall. By day two, Lance became a little fish & James just floated like hanging seaweed. Each of us took a child and off we went swimming around. Every time dad & I passed each other with a child, my kid cried and wanted to swim with daddy. How sweet but also how frustrating. Each boy wants to hang on dad because he’s the center of their universe right now. The height of their twin cuteness was full force when we all swam together. Dad & I would swim backwards while holding the boys out at arms length on their tummies. James & Lance would look at each other and just giggle. I would have loved to get that on video, but you can’t have it all with twins. My husband & I found it interesting that each one of us could get the kids to do different things that the other parent could not. Phil could get them to jump of the wall into the water where we caught them and he could get them to swim on their stomachs better. I had the knack with getting them to float on their backs & kick their legs as well as underwater submersion. So as a team, we had a good first experience with swim lessons, barring the two days right in the middle where they both only wanting to cling to our necks. It will be fun to see if we still have two little fish next summer or if we go back to having hanging seaweeds.

We were given a new toy over the weekend and it’s a hit. They got a Toss Across bean bag game. When I first looked at it, I thought that the bean bags were too small and puny. Boy was I wrong. The bags are about 1.5″x1.5″. They fit perfectly in the boys’ little hands. I didn’t need to show them anything. Funny how boys know how to throw without instruction. They don’t get the taking turns and using the tic tac toe stickers to play the game yet, but they get the throwing. It just makes me laugh when they both bend over and put their heads on the ground to look for the bags underneath. They seem to always do it at the same time and in the same way but on opposite ends. Too cute! Not only does it give them throwing practice, but they like to spin the pieces with their hands. We talk about spinning them back & forth, we count the pieces as we spin them and we count as we throw the bags. This toy is a keeper. I’m looking forward to their birthday when they will get the bigger bean bags. I’m thinking about all the different uses for these bags. Not only the tic tac toe game, but throwing into a laundry basket, throwing into a box that I’m holding into the air, tossing up and learning to catch and who knows what else. Do you have any creative uses that you have done with bean bags? If so, let me know please.

In the midst of all this fun & I do consider the past two weeks very fun, we had a very bad day. You know the ones were you think I don’t want to be a parent anymore? That was our Saturday. Pour little Lance started out the morning crying when he saw dad walk through the kitchen but didn’t stop to kiss Lance good morning. Not a big deal if Lance would have moved on and became happy after a few minutes. He chose to cry at the top of his lungs with big crocodile tears all day long. He didn’t want to take his naps. He just laid there and cried. No amount of consoling from me or dad would do the trick. After lunch we decided to go to Lowes to look for new bathroom floor tiles. We thought a change of scenery would help Lance’s mood. We were hopeful at the beginning. The store had their favorite sports car cart. Those two can turn a steering wheel with the best NAScar racer. Halfway through the visit, Lance started crying again. We picked him up, we let him walk, we put him back in the cart, all to the continuing sound of wailing. James apparently felt left out so he joined in this screaming symphony too. After 10min of this embarrassing concert, we decided it was time to go home. Not our best display either. My husband grabbed James in a hough and loudly announced that the trip was over and told the boys that they ruined the trip. I grabbed Lance in part shock to my husband’s actions and part frustration. No one spoke on the way home. Bedtime could not come soon enough that day. We put them down and 5min later Lance was up screaming. We tried to wait it out but he was going for the long haul. That’s when it hit me. Lance had been pouring spit out of his mouth like a river today. He was teething those last two upper molars. I felt so guilty about not catching this and blaming it on him being an awful soon to be 2yr old. I scooped him up, applied Oragel and we cuddled on the overstuffed chair for a while before I laid him back down to sleep. So the next time we have a really bad day, I’ll try to think better about what might be causing the fussiness.

On Sunday, while Dad was out looking at tile again, the boys got bored and mom was tired. So what to do with twin boys when mom’s tired? Grab several newspapers. Hand them to boys and show them how to tear the paper into stripps. This is a great way to exercise those fine motor skills in the hands. After every bit of paper was stripped apart, then I let them have a ticker tape falling down parade. I let them throw it on each other, on themselves, on me and in the air. 45 min of pure, simple fun where I didn’t have to lift a finger. I did have to keep a watch out so the boys wouldn’t get too carried away and hurt each other with the throwing. We picked it all up and put it in a bag for the next itme we get really bored.

Now we are back to the laughter ringing through the house this morning. All three of us were having fun. James & Lance were given each a 2 litter plastic Coke bottle. The throwing, the rolling, the sword fighting, the chewing, all of that was great. But the best part that made me laugh was when Lance held up th Coke bottle and pronounced that it was Daddy’s milk. James started chanting it too. So around and around the island they ran chanting that Coke was Daddy’s milk. The boys only get to drink water and milk so this was what they thought was Daddy’s drink. It makes me giggle just thinking about it now. If you have twins, hold on to those precious moments when they both are happy and they are both joining in doing those cute things. Some days may be hard, but all in all, the days as a whole are good & fun.